Navy Pilot, Killed In Holloman Base Crash, Identified

The United States Navy announced late Saturday the death of a pilot involved in a mishap at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.

The pilot was identified as 32-year-old Lt. Christopher Carey Short who died when the A-29 aircraft he was piloting crashed during flight demonstrations for the Air Force's light attack experiment at 11.30 a.m. local time (12.20 pm EDT) on Friday.

The A-29 belongs to Holloman Air Force Base’s 49th Wing and the pilot was on a mission over the Red Rio Bombing Range, part of White Sands Missile Range, north of Holloman.

“We regret to report that one of the aviators involved in yesterday’s A-29 mishap in New Mexico has died. LT Christopher Short, a Naval Aviator, was the aircraft’s pilot. All of Naval Aviation mourns his loss,” fly navy Official Twitter feed for U.S. Naval Air Forces, tweeted.

The U.S. Air Force tweeted Friday there were two pilots in the A-29, and one was airlifted to a local hospital with minor injuries.

The Air Force also tweeted fire and police units from the White Sands Missile Range Directorate of Emergency Services initially responded to the report of the crash.

Officials also said ground-based military exercise near Holloman scheduled for Friday evening was cancelled.

Short’s parents were informed of his demise Friday night.

"It was two navy uniformed officers who were walking toward our house and we knew right away why they were there," Short’s father Tom Short said ABC 13 reported. “Every parents’ worst nightmare was confirmed."

Lisa Short, the pilot’s mother said, "He was just a really good man. He was a man of integrity and a man of faith. … He challenged his classmates to live for something greater than themselves and he lived for something greater than himself."

Short was commissioned in 2008 and was stationed in Virginia Beach. He was due back home after the training in July.

Megan Brown, Short's sister, said he got married in October and his wife was the “light of his life.”

“For a long time, I just always wanted to do everything he did," Brown said, adding she recalls him as a brother she always looked up to.

Brown added some of the fondest memories were from their childhood.

"Things like just playing in the backyard growing up," she said.

The crash is being investigation and no cause has been determined.

The Air Force Times reported U.S. Air Force started the light attack experiment in May and is on a second round of experiment, pitting the Super Tucano against Textron Aviation’s AT-6 Wolverine.

The experiment is being conducted to decide whether to start buying a few light attack planes, which are cheaper than the fourth- and fifth-generation fighters now used.